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Page:Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (tr. Whinfield, 1883).djvu/116

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60
THE QUATRAINS OF

87.

Make haste! soon must you quit this life below,
And pass the veil, and Allah's secrets know;
   Make haste to take your pleasure while you may,
You wot not whence you come, nor whither go.


88.

Depart we must! what boots it then to be,
To walk in vain desires continually?
   Nay, but if heaven vouchsafe no place of rest,
What power to cease our wanderings have we?


89.

To chant wine's praises is my daily task,
I live encompassed by cup, bowl, and flask;
   Zealot! if reason be thy guide, then know
That guide of me doth ofttimes guidance ask.


87.   C. L. N. A. I.   In line 3 scan nĭdánĭyaz.


88.   N.   In line 3 scan jáyīgă.   Bl., Prosody, p. 15.


89.   C. L. N. A. I. J.   In line 1 scan maddáhĭyĭ; and compare Horace, "Edocet artes;
Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum."